Happy new year and welcome to 2019 everyone! I’ve so enjoyed taking part in Holly and Wendy’s weekly wrap and have “met” so many lovely women runners via their blogs, so I’m really pleased to be continuing with the link-up this year.

This January I’m doing RED January, which is a Mind (UK mental health charity) initiative to get people exercising and feeling well. RED stands for Run Every Day but I thought, as a Mental Health Champion in our running club, I’d try to model moderation and looking after oneself – actually all of us are doing that really well in our little group. It does mean I’ve done something every day, but my runs have not been epic due to my having this cold still, so not toooooo much to wade through, I hope.

Tuesday – I travelled to Brueton parkrun with Claire from up the road (she of the off-roading), her sister, and Mary Ellen from round the corner. But I was going to meet up with a lovely lady called Joan who I met through her cakes and two of her friends. Much nervousness (especially as Joan’s little Facebook group is called Tag a Pair of Trainers, to stop competitiveness or angst over appearance or kit, so we had to hastily share pictures of ourselves and our outfits!) but we met up OK and set off with a walk-run technique (jeffing) which was new to the others, but appreciated. Neither Tracy nor Ermine had run parkrun before, and Ermine had a cold, too, so we took it gently and I was SO proud of them for getting round and enjoying themselves – there were some damp eyes at the end!

Liz Tracey Ermine Joan

What a superb way to start the running year – I was honoured to accompany these ladies on their parkrun journey. I also liked the Brueton route, nice and flat and with out and backs and laps so you can cheer people on. Lovely volunteers, of course.

3.18 miles, 14:00 mins per mile

Wednesday – I incorporated a set of static and dynamic stretches into my morning routine, e.g. doing heel drops on the step in the hall just before you reach the bathroom, calf raises while brushing my teeth, hamstring stretches and squats while drying my hair. Ten different activities with at least 20 repeats of each or 30 seconds holding.

Running down that hill (thank you Sara for the photo)

Thursday – Met Jenny at my house and we ran up to Kings Heath Park where we met Sara and Caroline – Caroline had to go home but we continued looping the park with Sara then ran back to mine. A few bits of walking on uphill sections and still coughing (I promise it has NOT gone to my chest and I’m being careful). It was really chilly today so I wrapped up warm – a long-sleeved thin top under a long-sleeved fuzzy-inside top, winter leggings, a buff round my neck and a hat! Today I also studied the first module in the Learning I have to do for my Level 2 licence, on Judging and Recording, and wrote down the answers to the questions at the end. Two more of those two do, one mandatory and one optional.

4 miles / 12:32 mins per mile

Friday – I did a set of 20 x situps (I will admit not all of these were with my arms folded across my chest), 20 x squats and 20 x heel drops / calf raises on the step, three times at various points during the day, making a total of 30 minutes and 60 of each exercise. I would not have done this without the RED January so it was good to get this kind of training in (I’m still coughing too much when lying down to do yoga – bah!)

Saturday – Exercise of a different kind. My friend Dave picked me up early and we drove to Daventry, where he ran parkrun and I found a toilet then sat in his car with my book (I didn’t want to do parkrun and he could do it quickly enough to get round and finish in time for the next bit). We then drove to Newbold Revel Prison Training College to officiate at the County Cross-Country Championships (Warwickshire and Worcestershire). My running club were competing in the seniors matches but there were four juniors to look after first, so we arrived at 10 for the briefing. I was doing timekeeping, a role I’ve not taken on before. I was a bit apprehensive but as usual had a great team leader and team around me who taught me what to do (two roles taken on in pairs, starting the watch and calling out times as runners crossed the line / writing down times and also spot checks of numbers next to times – it’s all quite labour-intensive and analogue). We swapped between who was doing which role and working with whom, and it all went pretty smoothly, although high concentration and fast writing down was required!

Club and officials’ tents on the left, funnel on the right (I’m standing near the finish)

I was pleased one of my clubmates got a photo of me in action, waiting for Graham to fire the gun to send a load of runners off, at which point I had to simultaneously start my stopwatch.

Liz timing, weather writer with recording sheet tucked under one arm (thank you Claire/Mark for the photo)

As you can see, I was well wrapped up: it’s cold business, standing concentrating. I wore woolly tights, warm running socks, thermal footless tights, fuzzy inside tracksuit bottoms and waterproof overtrousers with walking boots on my bottom half, long-sleeved running top, long-sleeved fuzzy inside running top, running fleece that’s two warm to run in, and a coat, a buff and a scarf and a woolly hat, and leather gloves with fleece-lined wool mitts over them (just seen clutched in my left hand). A good day and number 4 out of my 6 experiences needed to gain my Level 2 Endurance Official licence.

By the way, only I, with my twin running and reading obsessions, would manage to acquire a book while officiating at a cross-country championships. Kate from running club (to whom I passed “Run Like Duck” at Awards Night) had offered Chrissie Wellington’s “A Life Without Limits” and I’d heard very good things about it, so I asked if I could have it. After missing each other at Christmas Day parkrun etc., she worked out that I’d be officiating and she’d be running today, so she caught me as I waited between gun time and first senior man appearing after running 10k and passed it over to me!

I walked 2.2 miles in total and was out in the fresh air from 10.00-15.30 so that counted for my RED January.

Sunday – I wasn’t sure how I would be today and considered bailing when I was woken by the alarm at 6:00! But I womanned up and got my breakfast and a read in, then met Mary Ellen, Claire and Trudie at the corner of the road. We took a fairly rural route, a bit of canal and some foresty trails (including the notorious half-mile with that plastic matrix stuff on the ground to stop it getting slippy that I like to trip over). It was a lovely day and Trudie kindly kept me company as I had to take it gently.

Path through the woods (The Dingle)

We went through the Shire County Park for some of the run, and I loved this signpost – very Tolkien-y, as it is indeed his Shire!

Here we are ready for our close-up and I’m concentrating hard …

Mary Ellen, Liz, Trudie, Claire

Trudie’s in her RED January top as she was organised to sign up before the last day of December (mine’s in the post). And not only is she organised, she’s worked out how to do a timer selfie and wedged her phone in a small tree so we could capture ourselves in the woods, full-length!

Mary Ellen, Liz, Claire, Trudie (thanks Trudie for the photo)

Such pretty places to run in urban Birmingham. And I thought this would please my American readers (Mary Ellen had never seen one of these; she’s from Chicago. Do you have fords in the US?) – an actual ford, with a car going through it. These are designated stream / small river crossings: they do have warnings if the river is in flood or particularly high and cars do get stuck.

A ford!

Trudie and I separated from the others here and ran home, they got their 10 miles in. I managed 6.5 in total which I was surprised and pleased by given how unwell I’ve been. There was walking on hills and that is fine.

6.5 miles / 13.01 mins per mile

Miles this week: 13.7

Miles this year: 13.7

I take part in the Weekly Wrap run by two wonderful running women and joined by lots of other inspirational women. Wendy’s weekly wrap is here and Holly’s is here.

Oh yes, it’s an actual thing, a road going through a (small, shallow) river. I suppose the river could dry up but I don’t think this one does. Cars still try to go through when the warning signs are up and then they get washed into the footbridge (Claire has seen one stuck there and had to investigate in case the people were still in it (they weren’t)).

I was wondering what RED stood for (you probably described it before, but somehow I managed to miss it LOL). Run Every Day is brilliant! But, I appreciate your “get active” every day; equally as effective. I wrote a blog post awhile ago about working out while “at work.” A lot of the moves described are simple moves one can do throughout the day (like the heel drops/calf raises). They don’t burn a lot of energy, but do work the muscles and are great little time savers in getting in some fitness throughout a busy day.

I’m not sure I did explain it before, maybe in my end of year post. As you’ve noticed, I’m not concentrating on RUN every day – I just can’t do that (if I did, I would take the sensible approach you did). It’s fun to see what everyone’s doing and I did feel more stretched by just doing those simple exercises through the day.

That ford is so interesting! Is it there all the time? Are the warnings live (like on an electronic billboard) or does someone have to come out and put cones and signs and such?

I still have a little cough lingering and I’ve been “done” being sick for a few weeks now. It’s so frustrating but, thankfully, it doesn’t really prevent me from getting a workout done.

I like that you are modeling moderation with the RED month and planning to just be active every day. I think that the stress of committing to running everyday can actually hinder some people’s mental health and understanding that it’s okay to substitute something else. I think you’re definitely a good role model. 🙂

Yes, the ford is there all the time, it’s a road that goes into the river and out the other side! I checked with Trudie, who grew up near the ford, and she said a guy comes out with a board but usually when someone’s got stuck already. There are instructions in the highway code about how to deal with them.

And yes, I’ve never seen running every day as particularly healthy, although Kimberly did a brilliant job with her streak which was indeed done in moderation. I needn’t have worried about our club members, though, active rather than running being the word.

I haven’t seen a ford here, but I did in Australia. I’m sure there are some in some more rural areas though here. There’s a road by mom that’s similar to what Wendy described in that it’s an accidental ford due to drainage and cars sometimes get stuck, but it’s not by design

Great week as you recovered from your cold. I prefer RED to Dry January ( think Imay have said this on your or Stacey’s FB) as it’s more meaningful for me since I rarely drink. I’m not sure I’m even going to cross train every day but if this weather stays nice, I’m going to try to walk home which rarely happens in January.

And yay on good officiating day. Kudos to your friend for pairing it with Parkrun. Learning from Duck how much of a thing parkrun tourism is. So awesome to have an easy ish way to get a run in while away from home

They’re all intentional ones here (except when it floods on other roads) but it’s weird how some people know them and some don’t – Matthew only had about one growing up whereas in rural Kent there are a few! Yes indeed, dry January is no good for me as it’s dry anyway. RED is fun and is getting me moving when I might not have (e.g. today!). I am rubbish at parkrun tourism – well, I did it on New Year’s Day but I’ve only ever done five different ones (mind you, I’ve only run it 26 times). There is volunteer tourism, too. Dave has done his 250 parkruns and has a cow cowl for having touristed over 20 times so he’s good at it (he’s also volunteered 150 times – I actually got to know him from parkrun timing rather than through club even though he’s there, too!).

That looks like a lovely place to run! I’m not sure I agree that running every day is the best way to get people started — I like your approach better — but I guess it’s all about the acronym. Love the photo of you timing – you look like you mean business — and it does come across that it was cold. 😉

Yes, we’re lucky to have so many greenways around us, the local council and various volunteer groups have worked hard to create them and it’s lovely running them as a group. I’m not sure whether RED is for new or established runners but yes, active every day seems best! And thank you, I love that photo, I do appear in the background of pics of runners looking wrapped up and grim but this actually gets it across very well.

a great start to the year! I know a few people doing RED (I’m in the Netherlands, but I’m on a FB group called “running the world” which seems to be mostly British but that’s neither here nor there haha! Anyway, some started RED last year and have just continued. I think it’s a great initiative.

I wish so much that we had parkrun here but until it happens (never – we are too cheap) we’ll continue being parkrun tourist. funnily enough my “home” parkrun is Glasgow as it was the first time I could participate and I had to register something ha!

is the Tolkien-like sign post in Birmingham? My husband would LOVE that. Could be a good excuse to get over there… that and of course the fact that I’ve never had a better curry than in Birmingham! it’s been a long time…

Oh, is that to do with the Run the World website thing (I joined their challenge to run from a city to the Running Show then got ill and couldn’t run for a week …)? It is great as long as people are careful with it and don’t run every day if it doesn’t suit them.

I’m sorry you don’t have parkrun – such a shame, as there are some lovely parks in the Netherlands!

And yes, the signpost is in Birmingham, in the Hall Green area where Tolkien lived, so certainly relevant to him. Let me know if you’re coming over and come and run with my club!

No! We don’t have fords. In fact we are cautioned to never drive through water. I love the look of Shire County Park and the signpost is a great touch. Your friend captured a wonderful photo of you while your were officiating! You’ve never know you had on all those layers of clothes. 😉 Thanks for linking!

It’s so interesting, it had literally never struck me that other people don’t have fords! I mean, it’s not like this is the only route, you can go round another way. But still. I was chuffed to see this signpost and thought people would like it. And yes, I love the photo. I do complain when i appear in the background of athlete photos that I look like a ball with a face peeking out, but there are LOTS of layers!!

Yes, RED is fun and I did a 1.7 mile walk I would not have done without it tonight and had a conversation with my husband for a mile of it! We are lucky with parkrun and have several in the area. know there are some in the US but not lots. And yes, it’s such fun doing officiating although hard work and I’m doing it at least half my weekends until the end of March!

We are not encouraged to drive on roads that have flooded but these are permanent things. Now it DOES seem weird, of course!

I’ve not explained the difference between volunteering at parkrun and officiating ever, I’ve realised. Very different systems. parkrun vols have training on the role on the day, the run director will have extra support. Officiating at cross-country leagues, county, regional and national matches and road / xc relays and marathons etc (out-of-stadium) plus officiating at track and field meets (in-stadium) for all roles except for marshals requires training courses of various levels to allow you to do various things (e.g. once I have my next level licence I can referee at up to county level but no further) and you have to have taken a health and safety course to do the initial training courses. Does that make sense? parkrun is a good entry drug though as you take responsibility and roles that can be similar to officiating.

I’ve never really taken the time to explain it all – I will in a post at some point – and it is confusing – I wasn’t sure how the leagues worked and there are so many different levels (like glee clubs, there’s regionals and nationals!) so it’s all impossible if you don’t happen to be actively involved. Most runners don’t know how the officials side works even when they run the events! All of it being in parks doesn’t help, does it!!

Yes, it feels much more sensible to me. I’ve been doing some new stuff e.g. reintroducing walking to meet my husband walking home from work and yesterday doing Stairmaster of my own stairs, so it’s all good. And I’m glad the signpost has gone down well!